DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!
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Chapter 1 - Jaden's First Duel
By the time Jaden had made it to the store and then made his way to the Domino City pier, the sun was starting to set. He made it with time to spare, about ten minutes before the departure time, but only because he hadn't been picky with what he was buying, and hadn't risked stopping at a card shop to try and beef up his deck.
The sun was hanging low on the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow over Domino City. Jaden shielded his eyes from the setting sun, squinting at the luxury ship that would carry him and the other duelist to Duelist Kingdom island. The massive ocean liner loomed over the port, casting a shadow across the docks.
Around him, dozens of voices chattered excitedly, the hum of conversation creating excitement in the air. Jaden sighed as he checked his bag for the hundredth time. With nothing to do but wait until duelists were allowed to board the ship, he was trying hard not to think too much about his upcoming interactions with the main characters. He was hoping to avoid it for as long as possible, unsure of how to interact with people he knew so much about but had never met.
Yugi and his friends were extremely trusting—probably too trusting actually, but showing up knowing things he shouldn't, right after Yugi's grandpa's soul was stolen would make him seem very suspicious. Just the thought of accidentally revealing something he had seen in his dreams made him cringe.
I've got a few hours to figure out what I'm gonna say, Jaden thought, knowing that Weevil had thrown Exodia overboard at night and without any land in sight. That was when he would introduce himself to Yugi and the others, because as worried as he was about slipping up, Jaden couldn't in good conscience let some freak with a bug fetish throw the Exodia cards into the ocean.
The sheer value of those cards…
Jaden didn't think it had ever been stated outright how rare the Exoida cards were, though if he had to guess he was assuming there were only a few legit sets in circulation. Kaiba's father had somehow managed to get his hands on a set. But that was the Kaibas—they had more money than sense sometimes. And there was that guy in GX who literally traded his wife's soul, but the most obvious clue was the Rare Hunter in Battle City using counterfeit pieces. The Rare Hunters—people who made a business of collecting the rarest cards by any means necessary had been forced to create fakes, a clear sign that the real thing was almost impossible to obtain.
"Screw Weevil," Jaden muttered, glancing around the line of duelists to see if he could find the little bug freak. He wasn't letting those Exodia pieces hit the water. Not when he knew exactly when and where that little creep was going to make his move.
The yacht's horn blasted, scattering the seagulls circling in the air and jolting Jaden from his thoughts.
"Attention all duelists!" a voice came over the loudspeakers attached to the deck. "Welcome to this event, sponsored by Industrial Illusions!"
Jaden looked up as his attention was caught by the figure of a Pegasus Corporation employee standing at the top of the stairs leading up to the yacht. All the conversation around him began to hush, a wave of anticipation passing through the crowd as all eyes turned toward the employee.
"You received with your invitation, two star chips that will grant you entry into the contest."
Jaden glanced down at his wrist where the gauntlet and star chips his sister Rebecca had been sent sat on his hand. The boy in his dreams had been obsessed with Duel Monsters—had played the game for years, collected thousands of cards, and made hundreds of decks!
Now that he wasn't taking his medication at all, Jaden felt that same pull!
Every time he thought about how it had been years since he had a proper duel, a little voice in the back of his head started screaming: DON'T BE A PUSSY! FEEL INCREDIBLE! YES! YES! YES! YES! WE CAN WIN! WE FEEL GREAT! WE. CAN. DO. THIS!
And it was true! While he hadn't played Duel Monsters in years, Jaden probably knew more about the game than almost anyone alive. In that other world, the world from his memories, Duel Monsters wasn't nearly as popular as it was in his world. People posted strategies and deck builds online. There were a dozen games with tutorials and digital versions of cards so that even if you didn't own the physical card you could still duel. A bunch of stuff that duelists in the pro-circuit guarded religiously.
In this world, Kaiba had literally ripped up one of the rarest cards in the world just so it couldn't be used against him!
Jaden was positive he could make it to the finals. Probably even the semi-finals! The only people in this tournament who could out-duel him were Pegasus and Yugi.
"You are all elite, invited by us after close observation of your past Duel Monsters contests! You each have a fair and equal chance to win!" Pegasus employee was finishing the welcome speech. "It all comes down to how well you have chosen your cards and how well you play!"
Jaden scoffed at the blatant lie. He knew the tournament's true purpose—to beat Yugi and seize control of KaibaCorp. Everyone else competing was just "extras" on the set of Pegasus play.
"Now then duelists! Cross the ocean and enter the Duelist Kingdom!"
With that, the yacht's gangplank was lowered and crew members in sleek black suits took up positions around the ramp, checking invitations and waving duelists aboard.
Jaden shuffled forward in line, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the invitation enclosed in a pristine envelope with a wax seal—his sister's invitation.
"Hawkins?" A cruise attendant checked his invitation against a clipboard. "Star chips?"
"Right, here," Jaden said, lifting his hand to display the dueling gauntlet on his right hand. Two golden star chips shined on his wrist.
"Welcome aboard, Mr. Hawkins!" the attendant said, handing James a shiny gold keycard before looking behind him and shouting, "As a regional champion, you've been assigned one of our premium staterooms."
"Thanks," Jaden said, pocketing the keycard as he walked up the gangplank.
Just as he was about to step aboard the ship, a commotion back on the docks made him turn.
"Hey, you! Get out of here!"
Jaden stopped at the end of the gangplank and looked back down at the sudden commotion on the docks. Two Industrial Illusions employees were wrestling with a blond teen in a green jacket, trying to pull him out of line.
"Only official contestants are allowed on board!" one shouted. "No stowaways allowed!"
"How do you know I'm not official!" Joey Wheeler was screaming as he struggled in their grasp.
Jaden shook his head and continued up the gangplank to board the ship. He wasn't a total asshole. If he won he'd help Joey and Yugi out. The Kaiba brothers too.
"That's those hero instincts I told you about, boss!" Bubbleman's voice echoed cheerfully in Jaden's head as he stepped onto the ship. "Protecting your sister, helping others—"
"You're making me sound way cooler than I actually am," Jaden chuckled, ignoring the odd looks he got from the other duelists. "I'm just being a decent brother and human being."
"Still sounds pretty heroic to me!"
Jaden found a quiet spot near the railing where he could watch the chaos that was Joey Wheeler. "Look, you've got the wrong idea here. I'm not fucking Superman or anything. I'm more like Goku."
"Who?"
Shit, right. Different universe. "He's this guy who saved the world like a dozen times, but that wasn't really why he fought. He just wanted to throw down with the strongest people he could find. Saving the world was more like... a nice bonus?"
"So he risked his life to save strangers? Sounds like a hero to me!" Bubbleman's enthusiasm was infectious, making Jaden smile despite disagreeing.
"Yeah, because you're literally a card called 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman.' Everything probably sounds heroic to you." Jaden leaned against the railing. "Thing is, all this tournament stuff? Pegasus's soul-stealing shenanigans? It works out fine without me. I've seen it work out fine."
Down on the dock, Yugi noticed his friend and managed to convince the guards to let Joey on board by giving up one of his star chips. watching
"Then why enter the tournament at all, boss?" Bubbleman asked.
"Because I want to see if I can win," Jaden admitted with a grin. "Yeah, I'll help people when I can, but the main reason I'm here? I want to duel against the best of the best and see if I can become the King of Games."
Jaden pushed off from the railing as the ship's horn blasted again, signaling their departure.
"Maybe helping people and becoming King of Games don't have to be separate things!"
"You're such a hero," Jaden said, shaking his head fondly. "Come on, we've got a few hours before Weevil makes his move. Let's find my room and maybe another duelist so I can get in a practice duel before we get to the island."
|GX|
"This is truly, truly outrageous!"
Mai Valentine strutted down the hall of Pegasus' yacht, her hips swaying as she complained loudly to the tournament official.
"You expect a lady like me to stay in a dump like this?" she fumed.
She was referring to the large sleeping quarters they had stuck her in—a cramped space filled with rows of dingy bunk beds. It was completely unacceptable. Never mind the fact that she was sure she was the only woman on the ship! She hadn't seen a single other female duelist aboard, just a room full of hormone-driven teenage boys eyeing her like a piece of meat.
Several had already propositioned her rather crudely!
As if she would waste her time on any of those acne-covered little freaks!
"R-rules are rules, ma'am. There's nothing I can do!" the man stammered excuses, but Mai would have none of it.
"Call your superior!" she demanded. "Get him on the phone right now!"
The thought of sleeping surrounded by those losers, without even a shred of privacy, made her skin crawl.
Honestly, the accommodations on this ship were pathetic!
The official scurried away and Mai glared at his back until she heard a nasally voice behind her.
"Keep acting up and they'll throw you off the boat."
Mai turned and looked down her nose at the short, scrawny boy dressed in a tattered green hoodie and ripped jeans. Rex Raptor, the runner-up in the regional championship. But with his nasal voice, bad complexion, and undersized stature he was hardly worth Mai's time or attention.
She turned her nose up at his greasy brown hair poorly concealed under a red beanie hat.
"Who do you think you are?" she asked dismissively, settling a hand on her hip.
"A champion with a luxury room," he declared, his face reddening.
A luxury room? Mai briefly considered trying to wheedle it away from him when another voice cut in.
"Oh! You got a private room too?"
Mai glanced over to see a tall, attractive man walking towards them. Well hello there, she thought, giving him an appraising look. Strong jaw, dark eyes, lean but decently muscular...he was promising.
She noticed his eyes openly roaming over her body, lingering on her flat, toned stomach and the generous cleavage spilling out of her tight corset. Good, Mai smiled. She had chosen one of her more revealing outfits for the tournament—a short purple mini-skirt and matching jacket over a tight white corset that looked ready to bust open at any second.
Mai knew the effect her looks had on inexperienced boys like these. Most of them had likely never been near an attractive woman before, spending more time ogling female Duel Monsters than interacting with real girls. It was too easy for her to use her beauty to gain an advantage, distracting her opponents with flashes of skin and flirtatious poses. It gave her an edge against the clueless boys who didn't know how to handle having a sexy woman like her giving them attention.
Rex's blotchy face reddened further as he glared at the other boy, clearly irritated at being interrupted. Mai paid the abrasive little dweeb no mind, her attention was focused on the tall, attractive blonde.
"Mai Valentine," she purred, extending a manicured hand.
"Jaden Hawkins," he replied, engulfing her hand in a warm, firm handshake.
Mai let her hand linger a moment too long before releasing his grip. "Hawkins..." she repeated, the name sounded familiar. Where had she heard it before?
Then it dawned on her—that little American prodigy girl, Rebecca Hawkins who was making waves overseas.
"Are you related to that new American duelist...oh, what was her name?" Mai frowned tapping her bottom lip with one finger, feigning forgetfulness.
"Rebecca?" Jaden supplied after a few seconds.
"Yes, Rebecca!" Mai exclaimed, snapping her fingers.
"She's my little sister. That's how I got invited to the tournament. I even got a private room because Rebecca was a regional champion," Jaden said with a casual shrug. "
Interesting, Mai thought, hiding a sly smile. So he got invited because of his sister.
Meaning Mr. Hawkins likely wasn't a top-tier duelist himself.
Perfect.
While Mai kept her expression friendly, inwardly she grinned. Jaden was oblivious, an unsuspecting little mouse. She'd toy with him, let him think he was getting somewhere. Then she'd pounce and that private room of his would be hers.
"Could I see your room?" she asked eagerly, clasping her hands together and leaning forward, the slight motion accentuating her already exposed cleavage.
"Hey, I was talking to her first!" Rex complained angrily, his blotchy face turning an even darker shade of red as he glared at Jaden. "Why don't you butt out and stop interrupting? This conversation doesn't concern you!"
Jaden rolled his eyes at Rex's childish behavior. "That's not how conversations work," he explained slowly as if talking to a toddler throwing a tantrum. "You can't call dibs on another person. Mai can choose to talk to whoever she wants."
Mai watched the exchange silently, biting her lip to hide a smile. She was glad Jaden had pointed out the obvious—that she wasn't merely an object to be fought over by brutish boys. As one of the only female duelists in the pro circuit, especially a jaw-droppingly gorgeous one like herself, Mai had gotten more than a few vulgar offers over the years to "duel" with her body as the prize.
Rex chose that moment to prove her point. "I don't care! I saw her first so I get to talk to her, those are the rules!" He shoved a stubby finger toward Jaden. "I challenge you to a duel! The winner shows Mai their room!"
Again, Jaden tried explaining the basics of human interaction to the arrogant brat.
"That isn't how—"
"Oh, what a simply marvelous idea!" Mai interrupted in a bubbly voice.
This was absolutely perfect! She could get a sneak peek at both these losers' decks before the real tournament started. It didn't really matter to her who won. She was confident she could easily trounce whichever hormonal, puberty-ridden boy won this little spat, and then she would have a private room all for herself!
"A duel just to talk to me?" SMai clapped eagerly bouncing on her feet, and turned her most charming smile on the two boys.
Rex went googly-eyed at the sigh of her bra-less tits bouncing, but Jaden only let his eyes dip for a second. Too shy, or is he trying to act all cool, Mai scoffed at the lack of reaction to her feminine wiles.
"Let's make this duel a little more...interesting, shall we?" She purred, stepping closer to Jaden and letting a manicured finger trail slowly down his chest. She gazed up at him through thick lashes, letting the promise hang temptingly in the air left between them.
Rex looked ready to spontaneously combust. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air.
"Okay, my room is that way," Jaden said, glancing at the directions on the back of his keycard and pointing down the hall.
Mai plucked the card out of his hand, hiding her smug satisfaction behind a coy smile. "Follow me, boys," she called over her shoulder, strutting down the hallway. Her heels clicked a steady beat against the hardwood floors.
When they got to his door, she tried to swipe the key card through the lock, but Jaden grabbed her wrist. "Ladies first," he said, taking the key card and swiping it himself.
Mai rolled her eyes as he pushed the door open to let her in. So much for his little aloof act, she grinned, letting her shoulder brush against his chest as she stepped through the doorway. A little smile and some cleavage and he was eating out of the palm of her hand.
Inside the room, her heels sank into plush carpeting. The room was easily triple the size of those cramped bunks below deck. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a stunning view of the ocean, making the space feel even larger.
"Now this is more my style," she purred to herself, slowly prowling around the luxurious private room. A king-sized bed dominated one wall, covered in high thread count sheets that probably cost more than losers in the common room's entire card collections.
Mai bounced experimentally on the edge, feeling the premium mattress only give slightly beneath her. A door off to the side revealed an en-suite bathroom that made her eyes light up. The soaking tub could easily fit two people, with brass fixtures and a counter stocked with luxury toiletries—none of that cheap stuff they stocked in the communal bathrooms.
Definitely an upgrade from those dreadful bunk beds, Mai mused, imagining long, relaxing soaks after crushing her opponents in duels. Her reflection caught her eye in the ornate mirror mounted above the sink—she adjusted her corset with a satisfied smirk.
Everything about the space radiated luxury and status—exactly what she deserved.
Mai smiled to herself, already feeling at home. This room would be hers before the night was over.
|GX|
Jaden watched Mai grab a Duel Monsters playing mat from her luggage and unroll it on the coffee table in front of the suite's leather couch.
"We'll use Duelist Kingdom rules," she declared, smoothing the edges of the mat.
Rex let out a nasally laugh. "It doesn't matter what rules we use. I'll crush him either way!" He shot Jaden a smug look.
Jaden resisted the urge to smack the arrogant runt. Rex was a decent duelist, he had to be to make it to the finals of a regional championship, but Jaden had seen him get stomped on too many times in the anime to take him seriously.
"Why don't we let our dueling talk for us?" he suggested, sitting down on the couch, forcing Rex to sit on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.
Mai dragged over a plush armchair to observe on the sidelines. From her purse, she retrieved a notepad and pen. "I'll keep score so no cheating, boys," she said with a playful wink, crossing her long legs and letting her short skirt ride up to reveal toned, tanned thighs.
Jaden glanced at the exposed skin as he shuffled his cards. His hands moved on autopilot as his mind wandered. He hadn't expected to run into Mai Valentine of all people first, but when he'd seen her purple boots and short skirt sashaying down the hall as she complained to some tournament official, he had two thoughts.
The first was: Huh, is Mai just a super-hot Karen?
And the thought that immediately followed the first: She would be a perfect opponent for him to get some real dueling experience in before they arrived at Duelist Kingdom Island?
That was what he'd been thinking when he interrupted their conversation. But the next thing he knew, he was being dragged into a duel with Rex over Mai's attention.
Not that I'm really complaining, Jaden thought as he finished shuffling his deck. A duel against Rex for practice wasn't the worst warm-up for the tournament.
Sure, Rex was no Yugi or Kaiba, but his dinosaur deck was still formidable in its own right. The problem with Rex was the duelist, not the cards.
Across the table, Rex was scowling down at his own cards, shuffling them aggressively. From the angry glare he kept shooting Jaden, it was clear Rex saw him as an obstacle to be stomped on so he could get Mai alone.
As if Mai would actually reward Rex with anything, whether he won or lost. The naive little idiot still hadn't caught on to the fact that she was clearly using them to scope out their decks before making her move to snag one of their private rooms for herself.
Well, Jaden was happy to give her a good show. Thanks to his dreams he probably knew more about Duel Monsters than 99% of the population, but that 1% percent that knew more than him would be on the island and wanted some real dueling experience before they arrived at Duelist Kingdom.
"Are you ready, boys?" Mai asked, setting her notepad down on the table. At the top, their two names had been written down along with their starting Life Points.
Life Points - Rex: 2000
Life Points - Jaden: 2000
"You're in over your head," Rex taunted. "I was runner-up in the regional championship!"
"2nd place is just the first loser," Jaden pointed out and Mai giggled on the couch.
Rex growled. "Let's just duel!" the 'runner-up' slapped his deck down on the mat. "How do you want to decide who goes first?"
Jaden shrugged. He didn't really mind who went first. "You decide," he said, setting his own deck down.
That seemed to make Rex even angrier. "I'll go first then!" he practically shouted as he drew his starting hand. "Watch and learn how a real champion duels!" he declared, selecting a card from his hand.
Jaden resisted rolling his eyes as he studied his own opening hand. Reinforcement of the Army, Hero Kid, Fusion Gate, The Warrior Returning Alive, and Fusion Sage stared back at him. For the first hand he drew in years as a duelist, it wasn't a bad start at all.
"I summon Two-Headed King Rex in attack position!" Rex slapped the card down on the mat. On the front of the card was an image of a fierce-looking two-headed dinosaur with a purple-colored body. Both heads have sharp yellow horns and menacing open mouths filled with sharp teeth.
Two-Headed King Rex****
1600/ATK
1200/DEF
Jaden couldn't wait to see what it looked like as one of the life-like holograms in the Dueling Arenas on Pegasus' island.
"And I'll set one more card face down, and end my turn. Your move, if you think you can handle my dinos!" Rex taunted.
Where he came from, Rex would get laughed out of the duel for leaving his backfield empty. Jaden almost did laugh at the dino-duelist. The only thing that stopped him was reminding himself that this point in the timeline, Duelist Kingdom was geared toward monster-heavy decks.
Jaden drew his sixth card—Elemental Hero Avian. Perfect.
"First, I'll activate Reinforcement of the Army!" Jaden declared, placing the spell card on the field. "This lets me add one warrior-type monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose Elemental Hero Stratos!"
Rex's face scrunched up in confusion. "Elemental what now?"
"Oh, you'll see," Jaden grinned. "I summon Elemental Hero Stratos to the field!"
Elemental Hero Stratos****
ATK/1800
DEF/300
Mai shifted in her chair, uncrossing and recrossing her legs as she made a note on her pad. She wasn't just keeping score—she was writing down his monster's name, effect, and stats.
Fine by him. Let her see what his Heroes could do.
"When Stratos is summoned, his effect lets me add another Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand," Jaden said, picking up his deck, and quickly searching through his cards. "I choose Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!"
"Tch, so what?" Rex scoffed. "You're just adding weak monsters to your hand."
"We'll see about that," Jaden replied, holding up another spell card. "I activate Fusion Sage to add Polymerization from my deck to my hand!"
Mai leaned forward slightly, her interest clearly piqued. "A fusion summon already?" she mused aloud.
"That's right!" Jaden declared searching through his deck again for the right card. When he had it, he set it down on the field too. "I activate Polymerization, fusing Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand!"
Rex's eyes widened as Jaden placed the fusion monster from his extra deck on the field.
"Meet Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Jaden grinned.
Elemental HERO Flame Wingman******
ATK/2400
DEF/1200
"Flame Wingman, attack Two-Headed King Rex!"
"Not so fast!" Rex flipped his face-down card up with a triumphant laugh. "I activate Threatening Roar! This trap prevents you from declaring any attacks this turn!"
"Okay, then I'll end my turn by setting one card face down," Jaden said, setting his own trap card on the field.
"Lucky draw," Rex grumbled, "But it will take more than some stupid hero to beat my dinos!"
"Whatever you say," Jaden snorted as Rex drew a card to start his next turn.
Rex's eyes lit up when he saw what card he drew. He couldn't have set the card he drew down fast enough. "Now THIS is how you duel!" the dino duelist crowed. "I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon in attack position!"
Red-Eyes Black Dragon*******
ATK/2400
DEF/2000
Jaden's eyebrows shot up. That was Joey Wheeler's signature card—or it would be, once he won it from Rex in their upcoming duel. For now though, the dragon was a serious threat with its 2400 attack points.
"Red-Eyes, destroy his Flame Wingman!" Rex commanded his dragon as if it wasn't just a card.
It almost made Jaden cringe as he set his Flame Wingman to the side, except Rex was technically a professional duelist and had probably been using Dueling Arenas that projected giant holographic images of Duel Monster cards.
So he'd give Rex a pass on this one.
Life Points - Rex: 2000
Life Points - Jaden: 1700
Jaden watched as Mai subtracted 300 damage from his life points while Rex preened, puffing out his chest.
"How's that for champion-level dueling?"
Mai yawned theatrically. "Are you done yet?" she asked.
Rex deflated slightly at her obvious disinterest. "Y-yeah, I end my turn."
Jaden drew his next card and mentally fist-pumped. Skyscraper—exactly what he needed.
"I activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"
The moment he placed the card down, he could almost see the towering buildings rising around them, just like in his dreams. He couldn't wait to actually duel using one of KaibaCorps Duel Arenas!
But for now, his imagination would just have to do.
"Stratos, attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"What?" Rex sputtered. "But Red-Eyes is stronger!"
"Not in my city," Jaden smirked as he explained why his Elemental Hero Stratos was now a monster with 2800 ATK. "When an Elemental Hero battles a monster while Skyscraper is on the field, they gain 1000 attack points!"
Elemental HERO Stratos****
ATK/2800
DEF/300
"You'll pay for that!" Rex's glared at him as he placed his Red Eyes in his graveyard and Mai deducted 400 life points.
Life Points - Rex: 1600
Life Points - Jaden: 1700
"We'll see," Jaden replied calmly. "Your turn."
Rex drew his next card. "I'll Special Summon Gilasaurus!" he declared, slapping the card down like he'd just pulled off some 200 IQ play.
Gilasaurus***
ATK/1400
DEF/400
Jaden had to bite back a laugh when Rex tried to keep the duel moving. He had specified he was "Special Summoning" Gilasaurus but hadn't said a word about its effect. And because this was the true Duel Monster world, not a TV show or kid's card game, there was no text written on the card, just the monster's ATK and DEF points.
"When Gilasaurus is Special Summoned, I choose to Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard," Jaden reached for his graveyard shocking both Rex and Mai.
"Is that true?" Mai asked, and Rex reluctantly nodded.
"He was hoping I didn't know that," Jaden stage-whispered, winking at the busty blonde.
"Just hurry up and pick a monster!" Rex snapped.
Jaden left both his Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in the graveyard. With Gilasaurus on the field, all bringing one of them back to the field would do was give Rex a free shot to take more of his life points.
Mai shifted in her chair again, and Jaden saw her smirking at Rex's obvious desperation. She probably thought she was being real subtle, planning to snake the winner's room. Not that he cared—he wasn't gonna fall for the same trick she played on Rex.
"I'll set one monster face-down and end my turn," Rex finished, clearly unhappy his little plan had been called out.
Setting up a defensive wall? Jaden wondered as he drew his next card—Elemental HERO Bubbleman.
"Did the tournament already start, boss?" Bubbleman's cheerful voice echoed in Jaden's head.
"No, this is just practice," Jaden said setting Bubbleman's card on the field.
"I summon Bubbleman in Attack Position!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman****
ATK/800
DEF/1200
Rex actually snorted. "800 Attack Points? And they let you into this tournament?"
Duelist Kingdom rules threw proper balancing right out the window. No tribute summoning meant any monster could hit the field, regardless of its level. It was like playing with cheat codes enabled.
"How much did those 2600 attack points help your Red-Eyes?" Jaden shot back. Mai's surprised laugh cut through the tension, causing Rex's face to turn an interesting shade of purple.
Let's see what he's hiding, Jaden thought, pointing at the face-down monster Rex had on his side of the field.
"I'll use Bubbleman to attack!"
"Hah!" Rex laughed as he flipped the card.
Sword Arm of Dragon******
ATK/1750
DEF/2030
"Damn," Jaden muttered as his Life Points dropped by another 230.
Life Points - Rex: 1600
Life Points - Jaden: 1470
Rex was practically bouncing in his seat as he drew his next card. "I switch Sword Arm of Dragon to Attack Position!" he declared. "Attack his pathetic Bubbleman!"
Mai deducted another 950 Life Points.
Another 950 Life Points down the drain.
Life Points - Rex: 1600
Life Points - Jaden: 520
"Your move, loser!"
Jaden drew his next card—Bubble Blaster. "I'll set one card face down," he said, placing Hero Kid face down on the mat. "Then I'll switch Stratos to def position and end my turn."
Rex drew his next card and his face lit up like a kid who just found his dad's porn stash.
"I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Red-Eyes Black Dragon*******
ATK/2400
DEF/2000
This duel is over Mai thought shaking her head. Jaden had shown some neat tricks. Summoning a Fusion Monster on his first turn and using that Skyscraper card of his to boost his monster's attack points to destroy a more powerful monster like Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it was just bad luck Rex had managed to bring his trump card back from the graveyard.
So why does he look so unbothered? she wondered glancing down at the card in his Spell & Trap Zone. Did he have something planned, or did he just not care about winning? He wasn't here because of his dueling skills after all.
"Red-Eyes, attack his stupid hero!"
Mai pursed her lips. Looks like she was right. Jaden wasn't taking this duel seriously at all.
"I end my turn," Rex smirked as Jaden set Stratos in his graveyard. "Before this duel is over, it will be your hero's going extinct!"
Jaden drew his next card—Negate Attack.
Now that's what I call protagonist luck! Jaden added the equip spell to his hand and set The Warrior Returning alive on the field.
"I play The Warrior Returning Alive to bring Bubbleman back to my hand," he declared. Rex just stared at him blankly. "It means I get my monster back."
"I know what it does!" Rex scoffed. "But it's a pointless move. Your hero's can't beat my Red-Eyes again."
James grinned as he drew a card and then set his hand down. "Actually, that's exactly what I'm going to do," he said as set Bubbleman back down on the field, then held up another card. "And now I equip him with Bubble Blaster!"
Mai was leaning forward now, her subtlety forgotten. Jaden smirked, then again, with a rack like that, she probably never needed to be subtle to get what she wanted. It was why Rex and him were dueling in the first place.
"This spell card has two effects," Jaden held up a peace sign and ticked on finger down. "First, Bubbleman's attack points increase by 800 points!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman****
1600/ATK
1200/DEF
"And with Skyscraper still on the field, that gives him another 1000 attack points!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman****
2600/ATK
1200/DEF
"T-that's not possible!" Rex stammered. "2600 attack points! That's even stronger than Red-Eyes!"
"Your move," Jaden grinned, enjoying the look on Rex's face as his precious Red-Eyes was destroyed again. It was hilarious. Seriously, the kid looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.
Life Points - Rex: 1400
Life Points - Jaden: 520
Rex drew his next card like it had personally offended him. "I'll attack your Bubbleman with Sword Arm of the Dragon!"
"Not so fast!" Jaden flipped over his trap card. "I activate my Trap card, Negate Attack!"
Red cursed, but with nothing else to do, he ended his turn.
Jaden drew his next card—Elemental HERO Clayman. Usually, he might have summoned it right away to beef up his defense, but again, thanks to Duelist Kingdom rules, Rex could only attack once per turn, and players couldn't attack each other's Life Points directly, so you only needed one monster on the field at once.
"Bubbleman, destroy Strong Arm of Dragon!"
Life Points - Rex: 550
Life Points - Jaden: 520
Rex put Strong Arm of Dragon in his graveyard and drew for his turn again. After staring at the card he drew for a moment, he just set another monster face-down. The fight was starting to drain out of him—Jaden almost felt bad.
Almost.
He drew again—E-Emergency Call and that was it.
"I activate E-Emergency Call to add Elemental HERO Bladedge to my hand!"
Now in a normal duel, he'd need two tributes to summon this bad boy. But Duelist Kingdom rules threw proper balancing right out the window. No tribute summoning meant any monster could hit the field, regardless of its level. It was like playing with cheat codes enabled.
"I summon Elemental HERO Bladedge and attack your face-down monster!"
Rex reluctantly flipped his card to reveal Trakodon. With only 800 defense points, it was already dead. But Bladedge's piercing damage effect was the real killer.
Life Points - Rex: 0
Life Points - Jaden: 520